🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.